Iran: Maliki in Tehran for reconstruction

TEHRAN, June 9 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with top officials in Tehran during the weekend to discuss Iraqi reconstruction issues, Iranian media reported Monday.

Maliki, along with a delegation of high-ranking Cabinet officials, traveled to Iran Saturday to discuss issues involving regional peace and bilateral relations, the privately owned Fars News Agency reported Monday.

Maliki met with Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili to discuss areas of mutual interest, including security and energy matters.

"During his upcoming visit to Tehran, Maliki will be accompanied by Electricity Minister Karim Wahid and will request Iran to provide the country with more electricity," the Iraqi ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad Majid Abbas al-Sheikh, said.

The report said Iran plans to build power plants in the Iraqi Shiite cites of Karbala and Najaf to complement the construction of a 250-megawatt power plant in Baghdad's Sadr City.

The Iraqi ambassador said Baghdad and Tehran already agreed on a plan to boost Iranian electricity exports to Iraq by some 300 megawatts.

Iraqi Vice President Abdel Adel Mahdi traveled to Iran ahead of Maliki's weekend visit. From there, the prime minister travels to Jordan to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah.